Impact of physician-patient discussions on patient satisfaction.
BACKGROUND
When 2 treatment choices (ie, mastectomy vs. breast conserving therapy) show no difference in a primary clinical outcome (ie, survival), patient satisfaction becomes an important marker of the quality of care received.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the impact of physician-patient discussion of primary surgical treatment outcomes on patients' satisfaction with medical care (MC) among women with incident breast cancer (BC).


METHODS
We used self-report data of a population-based survey of 495 women >or=50 years of age with stage I-II BC in Los Angeles, California in 2000 conducted a mean of 7.5 and 24 months after diagnosis. Using multivariable analyses, we evaluated the impact of physician-patient outcome discussions (ie, BC recurrence, BC survival, breast appearance, and arm swelling/pain/movement difficulty) on patient satisfaction at baseline and follow-up.


RESULTS
Most women were satisfied with their MC (>65%). More than half reported physician-patient discussions of BC recurrence (54%), breast appearance (50%), and arm pain/swelling/movement difficulty (55%). Thirty-one percent discussed BC survival. Women who discussed arm swelling, pain, movement difficulty were significantly more likely to be satisfied at baseline (odds ratio: 1.8, 95% confidence interval: 1.1-3.0, P < 0.05) and follow-up (odds ratio: 1.9, 95% confidence interval: 1.2-3.0, P > 0.01). The more treatment outcomes patients discussed with their physicians, the higher patient satisfaction ratings were at baseline and follow-up.


CONCLUSIONS
Physician-patient discussions of BC treatment outcomes were highly correlated with patients' satisfaction with overall MC regardless of the procedure received. This suggests that the quality of BC care should include assessments of physician-patient communication.
Chen
Judy Y
JY
Health Benchmarks Inc., Woodland Hills, California, USA.
Tao
May L
ML
Tisnado
Diana
D
Malin
Jennifer
J
Ko
Clifford
C
Timmer
Martha
M
Adams
John L
JL
Ganz
Patricia A
PA
Kahn
Katherine L
KL
D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome